By Kyle Osborne
Don’t you sometimes get a little suspicious when every critic is raving about a film that hardly anyone you know has seen? Same here. Sometimes it means that the critics have glommed onto something that they dare not pan for fear of losing cool points with their colleagues. And, to be fair, we critics do tend to like stuff that stands out from the pack, simply because we sit through hundreds of movies each year, and we sit up straight and pay attention to the unique. And sometimes that does mean praising a movie that just isn’t made for the casual suburban movie goer, just looking for some Friday night escapism.
Which brings us to “Snowpiercer.” Critics love it, myself included, but it has only played in a handful of art house theaters so far, suggesting that it’s not a “mainstream” movie. Well, it is. In the best sense of the word, “Snowpiercer” is totally mainstream. It’s full of amazing action and violence and a nail-biting narrative that keeps the story moving forward like a, well, like a locomotive.
The world has been frozen solid—a treatment meant to combat global warming has worked too well and the entire planet is covered in ice. The only living human beings are those who were lucky enough to board a special train more than a decade earlier—one which, true to the film’s title, is able to stay on the tracks, moving at a pace that takes it around the globe once per year. On the outside of the train, a barren white wasteland. On the inside, a world community inside a rolling petri dish.
The lower class folks live in the rear of the train, where food consists of a protein bar (wait til you find out where the protein comes from!) and no hope of ever seeing anything or anyone outside the confines of their dark, dank car. Over the years, attempts at revolution have been made—a sort of Bastille-storming, if you will, where the lower class peasants try to escape and invade the upper class cars, where food and drink are plentiful, and the comforts of First Class living are all around.
Yes—the train is an allegorical device, representing the struggle of the have-nots to gain some sort of, well, what we now call, income equality. You can take or leave the “messages”, however, and simply enjoy this as a film that combines the best elements of both train films and prison films.
Chris Evans (“Captain America”) is our Jean Valjean on this train—the one who means to lead a revolt and break down the doors that surely lead to a much better life on the other side—but it won’t be easy. A car full of hatchet wielding thugs is just one of many obstacles that must be overcome on the journey to the front.
Tilda Swinton stands out as the liaison between the never seen, but much revered owner of the train, Mr. Wilford (Ed Harris), and the lower class. Swinton brings some levity to the proceedings, wearing crazy prosthetic teeth, which she ably uses to chew the scenery like a hamster on Balsa wood. It is she who continually reinforces the message that there must be “order.” Again, another key word that means more than just being clean.
I like movies that take place in a confined space because it forces the writer and director (Korean Bong Joon-ho at the helm) to be creative, inventive—the fun is in having your internal question, “How the heck is this gonna work itself out?” answered over the course of two hours.
“Snowpierecer” is rated “R” and runs about two hours. You can rent it for 7 bucks or buy it for 15 bucks on iTunes, but if you can find one of those few area theaters showing it on the big screen, it’s worth the effort and cost.